Hannibal

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flyonthewall2983
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Hannibal

#1 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Thu Apr 04, 2013 11:22 pm

The pilot was much better than I expected.
Last edited by flyonthewall2983 on Wed May 01, 2013 6:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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knives
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Re: TV of 2013

#2 Post by knives » Thu Apr 04, 2013 11:24 pm

Isn't Bryan Fuller involved with that?

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Re: TV of 2013

#3 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Thu Apr 04, 2013 11:52 pm

Yup, saw his name. I didn't see much of Pushing Daisies but was impressed with it. He talks about some very obvious Kubrick references here.

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Re: TV of 2013

#4 Post by knives » Thu Apr 04, 2013 11:59 pm

I remember all the way back to Dead Like Me which probably remains my favorite modern show, or at least its first season. I wish his Munsters remake went through since that seemed more his sensibility, but what can you do.

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Re: TV of 2013

#5 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Fri Apr 05, 2013 12:15 am

With NBC's track record of disappointing people lately, I'll be pleasantly surprised if it isn't cancelled. The network audiences by and large have been programmed by modern cop shows to expect immediately what I'm sure this show will draw out in an interesting way. A show like this would be more at home on cable (or Netflix), which I wouldn't be too surprised to see happen if what people are already predicting will happen, happens.

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Re: TV of 2013

#6 Post by knives » Fri Apr 05, 2013 1:10 am

Hell, with Fuller's track record I'll be happy if it gets a satisfying ending. I'm also excited to see David Slade and a De Laurentiis are involved.

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Re: TV of 2013

#7 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Fri Apr 12, 2013 3:08 pm

Last night's episode was just as strong, and the initial word on the ratings is pretty strong. Hope it holds up.

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Re: Hannibal

#8 Post by Zot! » Fri Apr 12, 2013 4:23 pm

I tuned in for a laugh and Mads, seeing as I'm a big Manhunter fan...pretty horrendous. Everybody is always yelling and in a bad mood, stock cuts to spooky antlers and stuff and lots of gore on Primetime TV...wonderful. I did get a laugh out of how Hugh Dancy looks like William Peterson.

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Re: Hannibal

#9 Post by TomReagan » Fri Apr 12, 2013 6:41 pm

I'm willing to continue giving it a go for now. Will Graham is by far my favorite of Harris' characters, but I am not too keen on the show's decision to put him on the spectrum (for all of Graham's challenges, this was not one of them). Darcy is doing a good enough job, but I find it interesting that the creators chose an actor who is so slight -- Peterson is still stuck on my mind, and although he's not a towering physical presence, back in the day he played Graham as a real livewire and I certainly would not want to scrap with him.

The gore is certainly a bit over the top, but the entire show is presented as a sort of fever dream, and I can indulge that (it's visually arresting, and the sound design is extremely admirable by television standards). Plus, Mikkleson is wisely playing Lector in a very subdued fashion, which is a welcome change from Hopkin's latter-day hissy fop bogeyman routine.

The whole enterprise reeks of cable fare, so it's odd to be watching this on a network as noted above. My only true fear is that this turns into a sort of monster-of-the-week procedural.

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Re: Hannibal

#10 Post by knives » Fri Apr 12, 2013 7:24 pm

It's already avoided the monster of the week stuff slightly as the effects of the pilot spill over into the second episode preventing the cases from just being forgotten. Obviously it's too soon to say, but I'm getting the sense that this is being plotted like those anime which start off as monsters of the week before serialized elements bring everything to head. That head being Lector's capture in this case I assume.

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Re: Hannibal

#11 Post by Andre Jurieu » Thu Apr 18, 2013 12:55 pm

Just looking over some of the casting on IMDB, it's easy to see that some characters continue through a few episodes, rather than just show up for a week, so that lends some minor weight to the theory that it will not just function as a killer-of-the-week-CBS-style drama. I'm assuming it will function a bit more like Dexter, though I'm hoping it will avoid becoming as ridiculous just to extend its own lifespan.

While the show certainly has some flaws and probably lingers a little too long on its gore, I'm actually pleasantly surprised with its execution so far. Dancy is a little too frail for the character, but the rest of the casting has actually been impressive, and I'll also repeat the praise for Mikkelson's restrained performance while playing Lecter. I actually think the scenes between Dancy and Mikkelson have been pretty strong, and perhaps it's because Dancy's Graham is exerting so much effort in trying to conceal his fragile psyche from the stone-faced Lecter. Plus, casting the reporter as a red-head was clever, especially since she's often interacting with Lecter.
Last edited by Andre Jurieu on Sat Apr 20, 2013 2:33 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Hannibal

#12 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Fri Apr 19, 2013 10:56 pm

Cracks started to appear in last night's episode, but it was wonderfully balanced out by some tense moments between Graham and Lecter.

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Re: Hannibal

#13 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Wed Apr 24, 2013 1:10 pm

Six important scenes from the pulled episode have been made available online, in order to follow the continuity in tomorrow's episode. This is a very smart move, and bravo to Fuller and NBC for at least giving us this much.
Last edited by flyonthewall2983 on Thu Apr 25, 2013 1:05 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Hannibal

#14 Post by AnamorphicWidescreen » Wed Apr 24, 2013 5:17 pm

Hannibal is definitely a horrific & gripping show - I'm a fan of the Thomas Harris books (notably Red Dragon ) more than the films, and this really captures the vibe of the novels very well. The actors who play Hannibal & Will Graham are spot-on; the Hannibal actor was especially great in the JB film Casino Royale (possibly my all-time favorite Bond film, but that's another thread).

My only complaint about the show is that it's set in modern times, instead of in the '70's. The novel Red Dragon was published in 1981 & is set during that time as well. The film Red Dragon is also set in the early '80's. Since the show chronologically takes place before the events in RD, it should be set in the mid-late '70's.

That being said, I completely understand & get that this show is a re-boot with different people playing the original characters (i.e., the female reporter for that sleazy rag website was a male reporter in RD), etc. And, I also get that if the show had been set in the '70's it would have been much more expensive.....

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Re: Hannibal

#15 Post by Andre Jurieu » Wed Apr 24, 2013 11:44 pm

I thought tonight's episode (CityTV in Canada airs episodes a day early) was especially gruesome. I was actually kind of surprised that they were able to repeatedly linger on such imagery on network TV, but maybe I'm just not watching enough CBS dramas.

Meanwhile the interaction between the characters actually seems to be improving.

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Re: Hannibal

#16 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Thu Apr 25, 2013 1:17 am

I like that the show is in a modern setting. Making it a period piece would upset the balance the show is achieving.

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Re: Hannibal

#17 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Sat Apr 27, 2013 9:23 pm

Fuller wants David Bowie to play Hannibal's uncle next season, and NBC is telling him they're happy with the direction the show is going in. I don't take much solace from the latter part of that statement considering it wasn't renewed along with several other shows, but that could still be coming soon.


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Re: Hannibal

#19 Post by JamesF » Wed May 01, 2013 5:28 pm

The unaired fourth episode was recently broadcast in Korea and has inevitably made its way across the usual websites. Rumours that Fuller in fact had it pulled because he wasn't happy with it aren't too hard to believe once you see it; it's rather sprawling and never quite comes together, especially in its "killer" scenes involving Molly Shannon brainwashing kids. If you've seen the webisode excerpts, you've basically seen the good bits.

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Re: Hannibal

#20 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Wed May 01, 2013 6:12 pm

I believe it's available on iTunes now.

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Re: Hannibal

#21 Post by Andre Jurieu » Thu May 09, 2013 12:16 am

Not that I want to set expectations too high, but I really thought tonight's episode, Sorbet (it will air on NBC tomorrow), was the strongest episode of the show so far. It felt like the first episode that figured out a way to deliver character development, seductive aesthetics, and dark humor in equal measure, rather than sacrificing one aspect for the other. It was also one of the least gruesome episodes, despite starting off the action by lingering on some rather disturbing frozen images. I'm pleasantly surprised that they've allowed Mads Mikkelsen some liberty with the role of Lecter. While he certainly has no problem being terrifying in his stillness and stoic expression, he's also quite adept at being charismatic in a more playful manner than his predecessors, not to mention momentarily vulnerable within some scenes (fantastic casting choice in the scenes were Lecter gets to be a patient). Plus, the supporting characters actually got to be engaging, rather than just extra people to deliver lines. Nice to see Scott Thompson be given something to do.
Last edited by Andre Jurieu on Thu May 09, 2013 1:36 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Hannibal

#22 Post by knives » Thu May 09, 2013 12:21 am

That episode aired last week on NBC actually.

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Re: Hannibal

#23 Post by Andre Jurieu » Thu May 09, 2013 12:25 am

My mistake. I'm just screwing up the titles. I checked the plot-summaries and corrected that last post.

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Re: Hannibal

#24 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Thu May 09, 2013 1:02 am

knives wrote:That episode aired last week on NBC actually.
No it hasn't.

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Re: Hannibal

#25 Post by knives » Thu May 09, 2013 1:05 am

flyonthewall2983 wrote:
knives wrote:That episode aired last week on NBC actually.
No it hasn't.
He at first listed the title as Entree which did air last week. With the spoiler I thought he was obliquely referring to Izzard.

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